20-7-2023 (SAN FRANCISCO) Tech giant Apple is said to be working on its own AI-powered chatbot, internally referred to as “Apple GPT,” according to a report from Bloomberg. The company’s plans for a public release of the technology are not yet concrete.
The chatbot is built upon Apple’s proprietary large language model (LLM) framework, codenamed “Ajax,” which is hosted on Google Cloud and utilizes Google JAX, a framework designed to accelerate machine learning research. Multiple teams within Apple are reportedly involved in the development of this project, with a particular focus on addressing potential privacy concerns. While other major tech companies like Meta (formerly Facebook), Microsoft, and Google have already made strides in releasing generative AI products to businesses and the general public, Apple has remained relatively quiet in this domain.
Interestingly, Apple had prohibited its employees from using ChatGPT, the popular chatbot developed by OpenAI, but engineers have been utilizing the Ajax-powered chatbot for internal purposes. The creation of Ajax aimed to streamline machine learning development at Apple.
Though Apple has been incorporating AI into its software for some time, the company has been less vocal about its presence in the generative AI space. Siri, Apple’s famous AI system, helped set the trend for voice assistants among tech companies. However, critics argue that Siri still has room for improvement. To bolster its efforts in AI, Apple hired John Giannandrea, who previously led AI and search at Google, to oversee Siri and the company’s machine learning teams. The AI initiative at Apple is said to be led by Giannandrea and Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, recently discussed the company’s interest in AI technology during an interview with Good Morning America. He emphasized that AI is being closely examined at Apple. Cook also expressed concerns about AI products during a May earnings call, highlighting the need to address several issues before their widespread deployment.
Meanwhile, other companies are collaborating to provide different LLMs to startups and researchers. Meta recently announced that its LLM, LLaMA 2, will be available on Microsoft’s Azure platform. Additionally, Microsoft utilizes OpenAI’s GPT model for its Bing search product.
While Apple’s specific plans in the AI space remain undisclosed, sources suggest that the company is gearing up to make a “significant AI-related announcement” in the coming year.
